‘ 
48 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
a periodical, and withal suicidal, migration. In my “ Notes on the Zoology 
of Newfoundland” (Zool. 2nd ser. 2042) will be found the following note :— 
“Strange to say that during a residence of two years in Newfoundland 
I never could obtain, nor even see, any species of mouse; although the 
settlers assured me that in some seasons they literally swarmed, but whether 
of this genus (Mus) or not I was unable to Jearn. Probably M. musculus, 
Linn., occurs on the island, but from the accounts of the settlers I should 
infer is not the species which is periodically seen in such large quantities : 
these probably belong to the genus Arvicola, or to some allied genus. If true, 
there is something peculiarly interesting in these periodical visitations—or, 
I should, perhaps, rather say migrations—of mice, for I was informed that 
these muscine armies come from the interior, or from that direction, towards 
the sea, which they boldly enter, and are consequently drowned and their 
bodies cast on the shore ‘by thousands.’” Without entering into Mr. Crotch’s 
theory of the probable cause of these periodical migrations of the Norwegian 
Lemming, I will only add that, like that species, its Newfoundland congener 
invariably migrates towards the west. May I, therefore, through the medium 
of ‘ The Zoologist,’ call the attention of naturalists in Newfoundland to this 
interesting subject? In the neighbourhood of Cow Head Harbour these 
drowned ‘ mice” have been observed on the land-wash “ by thousands.” 
Henry Reexs (Thruxton, Hants). 
OrnirHoLocicaL Nores rrom Copaam.—As usual, in November and 
December, the gamekeepers here obtained a single female Merlin, which was 
found dead, having been probably slightly wounded by a shot. When I say 
as usual, I mean that for the last three years at the same season a single 
female Merlin has been obtained here, and in each case accidentally, the first 
two having been shot in mistake for Sparrowhawks. Previously to 1874 
the female Merlin was unknown here, and the first specimen was not 
recognised by the head keeper, although he knew the male well. It would 
seem that the females of this species arrive along the ‘Thames and Medway 
in October and November; the males are more commonly seen in March 
and April. I have never seen an old blue male except in these months, 
and if I have seen a male Merlin at all in December or January, it has 
generally been in very bad weather, when the Fieldfares, Redwings and 
Sky Larks begin moving about in search of food. As a rule, the female 
Merlin is as nearly as possible the same length as the male Sparrowhawk, 
viz., twelve inches, but the specimen obtained last year was nearer thirteen 
inches, and was very white on the nape, like a hen Sparrowhawk. The 
female Merlin is very distinct from the male on the wing. The extreme 
shortness of the latter, usually between ten and eleven inches, distinguishes 
him at once from all other British hawks. I have generally noticed, too, 
that the male is more given to that struggling, fighting manner of getting 
